In the art of regulators, and more particularly in the art of intermittent regulators, it is known to provide suction regulation for physicians and other medical personnel, to provide such clinicians the advantage of intermitting suction capability, in one generally compact unit. Such intermittent regulators supply vacuum and atmospheric pressure alternately.
Typically, in evacuating fluids from the body, such as but not limited to, evacuating fluid from the stomach area, it is possible for the suction catheter to engage the stomach wall, thereby occluding the inlet of the suction catheter. In such event, it is desirable to have the vacuum draw of fluid from the stomach become discontinuous, to free the catheter from sucking against the stomach wall and damaging the stomach lining.
It is also common for debris in the stomach area to occlude the inlet ports of a catheter and thereby restrict or impede fluid flow. Periodic and regular relief of suction pressure to atmosphere will discourage debris accumulation on catheter inlets.
Because it is not always readily apparent when such occlusion occurs, suction regulators can be operated on a substantially ongoing or intermittent manner by periodic regular cycling of vacuum on and venting to atmosphere of the collection circuit.
In other instances, intermittent regulators are provided that may be set to operate in either a continuously intermittent (on/off, on/off, on/off, etc.) mode, or may be capable of being set to optionally operate in a constant-on or in a constant-off mode.
It is also known that because of the nature of fluids being withdrawn from the body of a patient, it is necessary to provide regulators that are capable of being sterilized between uses.